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"The mom was recently sent to the convalescent center in Calvert City," Paducah Police Capt. Brandon Barnhill said. "Around the same time period, she was appointed power of attorney with all rights to the account.

"It's very frustrating to us. We often see people taken advantage of by the unknown," but in this case a family member is accused of spending a nursing home resident's funds, Barnhill said.

A US Bank representative contacted police on Dec. 4 with concerns over the mother's account. The bank had noticed unusual activity over the past six to eight weeks, with large amounts of money withdrawn.

Buchanan acknowledged withdrawing money from her mother's account, Barnhill said. Investigators found more than 1,000 items considered evidence, worth between $12,000 and $15,000, during a search of her home on Tuesday.

Barnhill said some items appeared to be Christmas presents.

"She had those duffel bag Christmas bags with a drawstring," he said. "She had two or three of them with 20 or 30 pieces in each bag. It appeared she was going to give them to somebody."

Barnhill said the garage was also full of grocery bags of food and other items that had never been taken into the house.

"You want to chalk it up to greed, but it's not like a greedy person to spend money on food," he said. "It wasn't like she spent it on house repairs or medical needs. We only found $900 spent on repairs to a bathroom out of all that $20,000."

Buchanan remained in the McCracken County Regional Jail on Thursday on a $2,500 bond.